The Queen against The Great Western Railway Company
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 22 January 1846 |
| Date | 22 January 1846 |
| Court | Court of the Queen's Bench |
English Reports Citation: 115 E.R. 69
QUEEN'S BENCH
S. C. 15 L. J. M. C. 80; 10 Jur. 134.
[179] The following case is published as early as possible on account of its immediate practical importance. the queen against the great western eailway company. Thursday, January 22d, 1846. The Great Western Railway Company were occupiers of a railway, their property, and constructed by them, and of branch railways which they rented; and they used the several lines as carriers for hire, working the whole as one concern. Iti the parish of T., through which the main line passed, they were rated for the railway as follows. The gross receipts on the several railways were added together, and the total divided by the number of miles in all the railways. The expenses on all, allowable as deductions from poor rate, were added together and divided in the same manner. The expenses on the number of miles in T., the calculation for each single mile being as above, were then subtracted from the 70 THE QUEEN V. THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY CO. 8 Q. B. 180. receipts thereon, and the assessment was made on the residue, with an allowance for interest on the plant or moveablo stock, and for tenants' profits, including profits of trade. On appeal against the rate, further deductions were claimed, as follows; and the sessions stated a case for the opinion of this Court on the legality of them. 1. For stations and other buildings appurtenant to, and necessary for the profitable enjoyment of, the railway, but rated or rateable separately from it, and in other parishes than T. Held allowable. 2. Allowance having been made in the rate for "maintenance of way," a further deduction was claimed for depreciation and wear and tear of rails and sleepers, being the solid timber and iron work of the principal line. The renewal of these had been paid for out of the company's capital, not their revenue. Held not allowable. 3..Interest upon outlay in forming the company, obtaining their Act of Incorporation (5 & 6 W. 4, c. cvii.), raising the capital, and other original expenses. Held not allowable. 4. " Income tax paid by the company in pursuance of stat. 5 & 6 Viet. c. 35, amounting in the whole to 10,0001." Held allowable so far as regards the tax imposed in respect of mere occupation. 5. "Additional parochial assessments, not actually paid, but which will be payable in consequence of the recent decisions of this Court on the rating of railways." Held not allowable. 6. The branch lines were worked at a loss, which the company incurred solely on account of the increased traffic occasioned by those lines on the principal railway; and a deduction was claimed for this loss. Held not allowable. 7. In estimating the tenants' profits, a percentage was taken on the original value of the moveable stock, at such a rate as might reasonably induce a lessee, obtaining that amount of profit, to pay the residue of profits as rent. The appellants contended that the percentage should have been taken on the gross receipts. Held, that this was a question for the sessions, not for the Queen's Bench. 9 (a)1. The following increase of assessment was claimed by the respondents. The moveable stock had, in making the rate, been estimated at its original value, which exceeded the actual value at the time of assessment. The respondents insisted that any calculation of the value for the purpose of reducing the rate, should be taken according to the latter state of the property. Held, that the estimate ought to be so taken. [S. C. 15 L. J. M. C, 80; 10 Jur. 134.] On appeal against two several rates, bearing date respectively 3d November 1842 and 16th February 1843, in the former of which the Great Western Rail-[180]-way Company were rated, as occupiers of the Great Western Railway with the appurtenances, in respect of a portion of the said railway extending two miles and one-sixteenth of a mile in length within the said parish, and containing thirty acres of land, at the sum of 24751,, and in the latter in respect of the same property at the sum of 30931. 15s., the said two rates being respectively at the rate of 12001. and 15001. per mile, the sessions (Berks, Easter, 1843) confirmed the rates, subject to the opinion of this Court on the following case. The Great Western Railway Company are established by a certain Act passed, &c. (5 & 6 W. 4, c. cvii., local and personal, public, and three other Acts, &c., 6 & 7 W. 4, c. xxxviii., 7 W. 4, & 1 Viet. c. xci., and 2 & 3 Viet. c. xxvii., local and personal, public). Copies of these Acts, and of the two half yearly reports made at two general meetings of the company, held 18th August 1842, and 10th February 1843 (a)2, which accompanied the case and were admitted to be correct statements, were to be deemed part thereof, &c. Under the power contained in those Acts, or one of them, the company have completed a line of railway from Paddington in the county of Middlesex to Bristol, being a length of 118 miles: and this railway, for two miles and one-sixteenth of a mile thereof, passes through the parish of Tileburst. The Great Western Railway Company, in order to increase the traffic on their line, became, and were before and at the making of the rates, lessees of a branch line from Bristol to Taunton in the county of Somerset for a term of years, on the terms (a)1 An eighth question was raised, which became immaterial. (a)2 See p. 190, 191, 192, post, where the only parts of the statute and reports which appear to be material in this case are stated. 6$. B Ml- THE QUEEN V. THE GREAT WESTERN BAILWAY CO. 71 of paying to the proprietors thereof for the use of the whole of the said branch line, [181] being a distance of forty-four miles, including the right to use the stations, and the right of taking all rates and tolls for the conveyance of passengers, cattle and goods, the sum of 50,0001. per annum. In the like manner and for the same purpose the said company became lessees of a branch line from Swindon to Cirencester, being a distance of eighteen miles; and for the use of which, including all the rights and privileges above mentioned, the said company, at the making of the rates, were liable to pay to the proprietors thereof, a rent of 17,0001. per annum. By reason of the incomplete state of the branch railways, the whole length of permanent way worked by the Great Western Railway Company, both as proprietors and as such lessees, amounted, during the current year of rating, to 175 miles only. The company, as such lessees of the two last mentioned lines, were in fact, at the time of making the rates, incurring annually a loss of 10,5001., over and above the actual net receipts, in respect of those two branch lines, the rents exceeding by that sum the net profits earned on those lines: and this loss was incurred solely for the purpose of benefiting by the increased traffic occasioned by those lines on the Great Western Railway. The appellants do not themselves maintain or repair the above branch railways, or the buildings connected with them : but they pay rates in respect of them; and they carry on the business of carriers jointly on the whole of the united lines as one entire concern. The said company, since the passing of their Act and the completion of the railway, have not only taken certain tolls authorised by the said Act, but they have also provided the locomotive powers and carriages, and [182] have themselves conveyed upon all the three railways passengers, cattle and goods for hire in addition to the said rates and tolls; and in point of fact the said company, since the completion of the said railways, have been in exclusive occupation of the said railways as carriers, no other carriers having availed themselves of the privileges, conferred by the Act, of providing carriages or power independent of the company. There is no station or building in Tilehurst; nor is there any extraordinary profit or expense in the repair or maintenance of the way in that parish : but the expenses may, for the purpose of these rates, be fairly taken as proportionable to the length in the parish as compared with the whole length of the united lines. The different stations and buildings throughout the lines are to be considered as rated separately from the railway. The following are the detailed particulars of the mode in which the rate allowed by the Court of Quarter Sessions was ascertained by the parish officers. The gross receipts of each mile in the parish of Tilehurst were ascertained to be 36801. The expenses of the whole line of the three railways, during the period to which the rates apply, amounted to the sum of 257,2051. 14s. lid. comprized under the following heads (a). 1. Maintenance of way ..... 49,643 6 5 2. Locomotive account: viz., coal, coke, repairs, wages to drivers, firemen, &c., oil, tallow, and all other in cidental expenses ..... 74,725 9 0 [183] 3. Carrying account: viz. wages to guards and conductors, police messengers and porters. Clothing, repairs of carriages, stores, &c. . . . 60,714 15 2 4. General charges: viz., superintendents' and clerks' salaries, advertizing, printing, stationery, and sundries, including travelling expenses . . . 23,126 211 5. Disbursements for repairs and alterations of stations and buildings connected with the railway . . 1,682 6 8 Carry forward, . . 209,892 0 2 (a) The figures which follow in this and the next page are in some respect inaccurate, but have been compared, and agree, with those of the original case as finally settled by consent of the parties. 72 THE QUEEN V. THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY CO. B. 18*. Brought forward, . . 209,892 0 2 6, Compensation for fire and other accidents, and other annual returns and allowances connected with the trade ...... 1,536 1-0 0 7, Government duty on gross receipts from passengers . 25,783 4 6 8. Bates and taxes of all kinds assessed on the company in respect of the property, and actually paid (other...
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